Lawyers ‘may have been targeted’

The Law Society’s chief executive, Des Hudson, said he would write to Lord Leveson, the judge who will lead an inquiry into phone hacking, asking him to investigate the allegations.

He said: “Hacking into solicitors’ phones would be very serious indeed, and we urge the police to carry out a full investigation.”

Mr Hudson added: “If hacking was carried out with the intention of undermining court action, it might well constitute an attempt to pervert the course of justice, which is a serious criminal offence.

“In any event, it is a shocking breach of the privacy of both solicitors and their clients .”

Mr Hudson said the Law Society was pressing the police to investigate these claims “with the utmost vigour.”